Armistice memorial stuns everyone as the Tower of London lights up

Armistice memorial stuns everyone as the Tower of London lights up

The tower of London lit up on Sunday evening as thousands of torches were glowing in the dry moat. It marked the centenary of the end of WWI.

Labelled as the ceremonial Beefeater, the event began as a flame was brought down from the tower to the moat which already had smoke. Armed forces’ representatives and several volunteers were present at the event as they helped in igniting 10,000 torches with the help of the flame, each being placed at a foot’s distance from tower’s walls.

Among the volunteers, there was this man from Royal Navy, Midshipman Balraj Dhanda, who stated that the ceremony helps in creating the atmosphere for people. The environment assists them to enhance the personal reflections of the event and gives them time to think about the scenarios.

A vast number of spectators were present as they watched the ceremony, with the background of choral music that had words from Sonnets to A Soldier by Mary Borden, played on the special sound installation. Another notable thing was the observance of one minute’s silence.

Tower of London’s Governor

The governor of the Tower of London, Dick Harrold, said that the special thing about this event is that there are various meanings associated with it. The words that are running in the background aren’t for the ones that were lost, but more focused towards the individuals that are left behind along with the bereaved and other individuals that felt the effects of war.

The tower is being managed by Historic Royal Palaces who had a keen desire to mark the centenary of the Armistice as they successfully managed to come up with the display of red ceramic poppies. They were poured out of a window to fill the moat.

The four month installation at the tower commemorated 100 years from the beginning of WWI. There are two artwork sculptures that have been touring Britain since. These pieces of artwork, together, are observed by as many as 9 million people. Also, there are two smaller sculptures which are placed for display for the last time which can be seen in the Imperial War Museums in Manchester and London.

The ceremony held at the Tower of London, labelled as the Beyond the Deepening Shadow, will continue to go on and will continue to be repeated for each night till 11 November.